The 13th annual Gordon Conference on Phagocytes will be held June 12-17, 2005 at Connecticut College, New London, Connecticut. This Conference will be a forum for high-quality presentations and in depth discussions of the most recent discoveries in phagocyte biology and clinical extensions relevant to inflammation and host defense. The Conference has been in existence since 1981, and draws from a worldwide group of scientists with diverse backgrounds, including cell biology, biochemistry, molecular genetics, and clinical medicine. This meeting has consistently been an important venue for disseminating information and facilitating communication between investigators studying different facets of leukocyte biology as well as providing a general educational forum for trainees and young investigators in the field. Conferees attending the Gordon Conference on Phagocytes (session chairs, speakers, and participants) typically number 125-135. At the 2003 meeting, approximately 2/3rds of conferees were faculty-level research scientists and 1/3rd were graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. There are nine (9) planned sessions with a total of 30 plenary talks. A known expert in the field will chair each session. We also plan to include approximately 6-8 short talk presentations selected from abstracts submitted by meeting attendees. In addition, approximately 60 posters will be displayed. The program will provide opportunities for participation of scientists at all levels and we will particularly promote the participation of junior investigators, postdoctoral trainees and "new investigators to the field".